On Oct. 5, just hours before the much-anticipated grand opening of the Southgate House Revival
— the new club from former longtime owners/operators of the Southgate House (now called Thompson House) — social media began to buzz with word that the venue would not be ready to open as planned. At around 4:20 p.m., a press release was sent out to officially deliver the bad news — the former church was not up to code and therefore the Oct. 5 and 6 shows would have to be rescheduled.
In the press release, the club’s Morrella Raleigh said they were “very, very close,” but “last minute construction challenges” made the scheduled opening impossible.
“We are sorry to have to delay sharing this magical venue with the music fans of the area, but our first concern will always be to make sure that it is safe and ready for public occupation,” she said.
Although a few fans seemed upset by the false start (and late cancellation), judging by comments on social media, the general consensus seemed to be “good things are worth waiting for.”
Raleigh indicated that this coming weekend, all systems are go: “We look forward to seeing everyone next weekend for CincyPunk Fest
.” As of press time, organizers of CincyPunk Fest were confident that their two-day event at the Southgate House Revival would go on as planned this Friday and Saturday, making it the first official music event at the converted former church. (Just to be safe, check the Southgate Revival’s social media sites before you head out; they’re linked at southgatehouse.com .)
Like the Southgate House, CincyPunk Fest (which had been held for several years at the SGH’s original location) has become something of a local music institution. Originating from the former CincyPunk website in 2003 and blossoming into a diverse and incredibly well-attended event over the past decade, CincyPunk Fest has not only put together a well-curated collection of strong local, regional and sometimes international Rock, Indie, Roots and Punk acts, but it has also raised around $50,000 for various local charities throughout the years. This year’s beneficiaries are Recycled Doggies and Save Our Shelter Dogs, two nonprofit dog rescue foundations. Another new aspect this year— CPF founder Adam Rosing formed CincyPunkFest Inc., a 503(B) nonprofit with a seven-person board, to keep the event growing and evolving.
“The event has grown bigger than one person, there is a community behind it and that community becoming more involved as time goes on is the way to ensure the event lives on,” Rosing says.
CincyPunk Fest 2012 kicks off Friday at 8:30 p.m. and both nights will utilize the new venue’s three stages. Artists performing Friday include locals like The Seedy Seeds
, Mad Anthony , The Pinstripes , The Lions Rampant , State Song , Ampline , Mala in Se , Animal Circus , Billy Catfish and Frontier Folk Nebraska , among others.
Saturday’s lineup includes local acts like The Dopamines
, Team Stray (a reunion performance just for CPF), The Worthmores , Swear Jar , Knife the Symphony , The Frankl Project , Alone at 3am , for algernon , Wonky Tonk , Billy Wallace and Strawboss .
Admission each night is $10. Advanced tickets are available through ticketfly.com. Here's the full lineup and set times:
More Local Notes
• If Metal is more your thing, you can head to Reading, Ohio’s “Cincinnati Metal Family Reunion
,” a daylong, free concert at Koenig Park Pavilion that kicks off at 1 p.m. Saturday. Now in its eighth year, the Cincinnati Metal Family Reunion concert is presented by the local band Eyes On Tomorrow to draw more attention to Cincy’s strong if overlooked underground Metal scene. Along with EoT, the show — which is free, open to all ages and BYOB — also features Hell Scorched Earth , Killing Session , Beverly Hellfire , The Fallen , The Requiem , Victory Over Vanity , UnKured , Vehement Demise and Eternal Void. The show will include the kid-friendly “Scream Off,” as well as the not-kid-friendly (though they’ll certainly be amused) “Chili Puke Off,” where contestants drink back-to-back bowls of chili and cups of beer until … well, you know. “Winners” in both contests will score some merch from the bands. Find complete details (and check some tunes from the organizers) at facebook.com/EyesOnTomorrow .
• Raggedly glorious, noisy and oddly melodic (in a great way) Punk band Vacation
has returned from a month-long East Coast tour, and this Saturday at MOTR Pub in Over-the-Rhine the band will celebrate three releases that came out while they were gone. New, locally-based label Torn Light released the 7-inch vinyl EP (on black or clear wax) Shitty City , while Indiana’s Let’s Pretend Records and the U.K.’s Drunken Sailor Records co-released the “Candy Waves” 7-inch and Kirby Sessions cassette. Bloomington’s Purple 7 opens the free, 10 p.m. show. Catch Vacation while you can — the group travels to Florida then the West Coast soon after the hometown date. ( vacation.bandcamp.com )
CONTACT MIKE BREEN
: [email protected] , on Twitter at @CityBeatMusic or on Facebook at facebook.com/mike.breen.513
